Establishing rates

An employer's premium rates include a variety of information about the employer.

The premium rate an employer pays for workers’ compensation coverage is established by:

The type of work being done.

The injury risk due to hazards associated with that work.

When you apply for workers' compensation coverage, BWC assigns a National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) manual classification based on the description of the work being performed. Each manual classification has its own base premium rate.

For example, the manual classification for an office worker carries a lower base premium rate than a construction worker's. There's less risk of injury for the office worker, and claims costs are typically lower than for construction workers.

You must report your payroll using the NCCI classification system in your yearly Payroll True-Up Report. From the report, we then calculate the estimated annual premium by multiplying your reportable payroll by the rate for each NCCI code, and adding the total(s) for these code(s).